Electric piano-player.



W. H. SM-I-TEL ELECTRIC PIANO PLAYER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23, 1909. 979,715, Patented Dec. 27 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1 iwg W. E. SMITH. ELECTRIC PIANO PLAYER.

APPLIGATION FILED T11R23. 1909. 979,7 1 5, Patented Dec. 2'7, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTUR Vl/i [iii 15' M 1 TH W H. SMITH.

ELECTRIC PIANO PLAYER.

APPLIUATION l-ILED M323. 1909.

979,715. Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 8 Q/Vi li-mlco $0 a J I eh I 61 0mm means. The op cordingto one metho invention.

' jtrol UNITED sTA flEs PATENT o Fe on;

WILLIAM nnmiy smart, or runes. LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 JOSEPHHERBER MARSHALL, OF LOND ON, ENGLAND.

ELECTRIC PIANO-PLAYER.

Application ii To all whom it may concern' Be it known that l, \YmrmgfirHENRY SMi'rn, a subject of the King'ot' E residing at lenge, London,lfin'glanch have invented certain new and useful Improve- .rnentsiii-Electric Piano-Players of which a I v the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in automatic musicalinstrun'ients, that is to say; to piano-players and the like which areactuated partly or entirely by electrical eration'. of thestriking meclnanism is efi'ected by electrical means, but the music sheet may controlthe apparatus either pneumatically or electrically. I

The invention will be described with reference-to the accompanyingdrawings, in which-' j Figure 1 is a'diagrannnatic View of theconnections and apparatus employed, ac-

d for carrying out the Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating thecircuit connections by which a single actuating device may control agroup of notes. iication of the cut-out arm adaptedto cona. group oinotes. Fig. {l is a fragmentary view of the tracker-board showing thevthe striker by a pneumatic connections of the same with the severalelectric contacts. An electro1nagnet A has cooperating with I striker Bfor operation on the keys of the'piano; one key is indi-' cated at (I.The armature is connected to screw-threaded eye A that carried by thestriker pivoted to :1 lug B eye farther into or out and by screwing thefrom the armature to the striker maybe ad usted.- Normally the armatureis retained in the position shown in the drawing by a sprin Bsurrounding the striker cooperating witha fixed fi'ame'member X and astop B also coop erating with the same frame member limits the upwardmovement. ofthc striker. The position in which the armature is shown isthat wherein 'the magnetic field acts most strongly upon it. It will beseen that each end of the armature is approaching one of the'polsio'fthe .electro-magnct and when p the electromagnet is excited the armaturearrow so as moves in the direction of the .ith the poles.

totake'up a position in linew .It follows therefore that it moves fromthe and connected to nglz'ind,

Fig. 3 is a view of the moat the length of stroke given I Specificationof Letters Patent. led. February 23, 1909.

may be regulated by any Serial No. 479,421.

position where the greatest torque is exercised to one where themagnetic field acts less. strongly upon it and when absolutely in linewith the poles the torque is at]. The advantage of this arrangement isthat the strongest force is exercised when movement of the strikingmechanism is commenced and after this the force exerted is decreased.

There are as'many strikers employed as keys C that are to be opera-ted.but as these are all .alike it is not necessary to show more than one.One end of the coil of the electro-magnet A for each striker isconnected by wire I) through a contact device E to a battery F. Theother end of the coil is connected through a non-inductive highresistanceG and a wire D to the other pole of the battery F. This end ofthe/coil however also has another connection with the same pole of thebattery by way-of a cutout H. This cut-out serves to shunt theresistance G and comprises a contact piece H that is carried by arocking arm N and a cooperating contact-piece,H that is mounted in anarm H pivoted at H to the rocking arm N and controlled by a spring H TheI position of the rocking arm N suitable means that can be operatedwhile the instrument is in use. A SCI'QWNI is shown for this purpose.

This means of adjustment is not merely for the purpose of facilitatingthe assembling of the nstriiunentin the toe to accomplish a definiteresult with respect to the operation of the instrument. .liy adjustingthe connection between the cut-out and the striker, the full currentwill be maintained for a longer or shorter period and thus the notesstruck will be correspondingly stronger or weaker. The circuit throughthe cut-out H is by way of a wire J, a switch J, a rheostat J 2 of lowresistance and a wire J lVith the switch J in the position shown in thedrawing and when the special accenting device L, hereinafter to bedescribed, is not operated, from the note sheet, there is-no circuitthrough the cut-out so that all the current for exciting theelectro-magnet A must pass through the high resistance G. This-is forsoft playing- Patented. Dec. 2'7, 1910.

tory but is intended however, the other of the which brings tiOtl. itfollows circuit of the titt'tl'O-litttfllltl is lirst closed acomparatively large current passes through the electro-nia rnet as thehigh resistance (i is cut-out by the contacts ll. 1F and the resistanceol the rheostat is less than the resistance (i or constitutes acomparatively low resistance. The striker B is therefore more forciblyoperated. but as soon as the note has been struck it is unnecessary tomaintain this comp-.u'atively large llow of current. and for thispurpose the movement of the striking mechanism is made to decrease theflow of current. This is ellected by-la lappet it" that is adjustahlymounted out the 'iker l and opposed to the arm ll. .ts the strikerdescends. the tappet displaces the arm ll which carries thecontact-piece ll and tints throws the "cut-out" ll out of action; thecurrent now has to pass through the high resistance G to theelectromae'net, and it is therefore decreased. The current couldotherwise be decreased in a well-known manner by reducing the number ofbattery cells in circuit with the electro magnet by means ol thecut-out.

The object of the rocking arm N is to provide for loud and soft playing.it will be seen that by rotating the screw X to bring" the free end ofarin ll farther from or nearer to the tappet B the full current will be.maintained for a longer or shorter period and thus the note or notesstruck while the arm is in such position will be correspondinelystronger or weaker. The rocking arm X could carry the contact pieces ofall the notes, or more. than one rocking arm could be providcd.'eachcarrying the contacts corresponding to a selected group of notes, thusin Fig. 3 the rocking arm N is' provided with the branch arms n--n.etc., carrying the contact pieces H ll, etc., and the arms 1l-"ll*. etc,carrying contact pieces corresponding to the contact pieces H Fig. l.The arms H H.", etc., are arranged forengagement' by the tappets B-l3,et'c. V The electro-magnets and consequently the keys Cthat are to bestruck are conveniently controlled by the usual perforated paper rollcoi'iperating with pneumatic apparatus, the being employed to makeelectrical contacts for closing the c'ircuitsof the anions electro-'magnets. One of these contacts is shown at E and comprises two contactpieces E E that are'sccured withina chamber 'K. This chamber forms partof apparatus and has a bleed hole K that is connected with the vacuumchamber and a conduit R that communicateswith the tracker-boarddiaphragm K is opposed to the conduit K and carries a block pneumaticapparatus however" the usual pneumatic switch moved on to one or i Ii".

contacts of the rheoslat J i the cut-out it into operatherefore thatwhen the thence by a wire connected to the The block lies opposite thecontact E and so longas a vacuum is maintained in. the chamber K it doesnot displace the con tact. A line passage K communicates be tween theconduit K and the chamber K so that normally the diaphragm K is notunder pressure. As soon, however as the opening in the tracker-boardthat corresponds to the conduit K is uncovered by the music-sheet sothat air admitted to the conduit, the pressure of the air thus suddenlyadmitted advances the diaphragm K and causes this to bring theeonlact-picce 1'1 into electrical contact with the piece E plurality ofrhecstats J is provided one being in series with each electro-maguet butthe switch J may have several arms whereby the one switch may be made tocontrol a group of rheostats tor the. purpose of accenting' acorresponding group of notes. Several switche may be provided ea hcontrolling; its own group whereby the treble and the bass, forinstance. may be separately accented. Thus in Fig. the switch arm J isshown as provided with a plurality of arms J -fl to which the wires.lare suitably connected. The arms J ---[l cooperate with the rheostatsri -fil to which the wires ri J are connected. It will be seen thatthese rheostats provide an alternative liltlllS for obtaining loud andsoft playing. It has before been proposed to employ a single rheostat inries with a group of electro-magnets that.

control note-producing devices, but by the above arrangement a much moreflexible control of the note-produeing mechanism is obtained, andmoreover it lends itself for the purpose of accentine individual notesby m ans of a cooperating cut-out as follows: In some cases thenuisiesheet is provided with special perforations for the purpose ofaccenting individual notes. and for dealing with these specialperforations another-set of contacts as- L is employed. These arearranged in a similar manner to the contacts E and are controlledpneumatically through conduits L from the trackerboard A by a diaphragmL. -Each contact L is placed in shunt to the rheostat J corresponding tothe note that is controlled by the pa rtienlar orifice in thetracker-board whereby the aceenting of such note is determined, and itfollows therefore that when any such orifice is uncovered, thecorresponding rheostat with its connections is cut out. The. currentmust then pass through the wire l), the coil of the electro-magnet A,wire J, wire L contact-devices L, and

cut-out H; a circuit is thus provided through the cut--out H whether theswitch J is in operation or not. and the wire D completes the circuit tothe battery. 'An adjustable resistance L may L to the wire J F that isbe placed in circuit with the contacts L so that the degree of accentingmay be controllecl. instead of a set of contacts L, one or two only maybe provided. In such case, each pair of contacts would operate to cutouta group of rheostats so that anynotes controlled by such group Would beaccented. Thus the treble notes. could be controlled by one pair ofcontacts and the bass by an other. An arrangement of the circuits forthis purpose is illustrated diagrannnatically in Fig. 2, in which theconnections L of the accenting pneumatic L are provided with suitableconnections, with the Wires J*J" corresponding to the wire J in Fig. l,and the connection L" is branche(l to the wires J -J c orresponding tothe wire J in Fig. 1.

To prevent sparking at the contacts E, a non-inductive resistance M isconveniently placed. across the coil of the electro-magnet A, but thisis only safeguard, as in normal operation, before the contacts E areseparated, the contacts H H of the cut-out H have been separated, sothat the current pass-- ing through the coil or" the electroanagnet ihas been reduced and very little sparking is possible. It should benoted that the noninductive resistance G that thus serves to re duce thecurrent and prevent sparking at E also prevents sparking at H as it'isalways in circuit across the contacts H H .Any of the devices known forautomatically accenting particular notes may be arranged to control thecontacts L for the purpose of effecting the accenting in the case of Citthe'present invention and such accenting may obviously lae etlected bythrowing in more batteries if desired, instead of cutting; out a. n"times such as the rheostats J lit desired, the method accer ing byextra holes controlling certain groups of notes, described in S.ppl'lation Smith and Gun'ton, No. 456,223, tiled December I, 1908, mayhe used in. eoniunction with. the electrical devices above described.

This inventioh has been described in its application to no outsidepiano-player. It is to be understood that it could similarly he appliedto an inside piano-player,

3 \Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to seeiiufe by Letters latent is:-- l

1. In con'ibinatimi With a musical. instrument, an ai'ztomatic operatorcomprising an clectromagncl', a striker ()}')IZl'l'(l tl'i'ereby, a highresistance in series with the electromagnet, a low resistance inparallel *ith the high resistance, :1 output in the low resistancecircuit, and adjustable means constructetl'znul arranged to-he operatedWhile theinstrumcnt is in usein playing a piece, opcratively connectingsaid output with said striker whereby the time of operation or saidcutout with respect to the operation of said striker may be varied.

musi ca l electroa high resistance in series with the electro-magnet,

a low resistance in parallel with the high resistance, a cut-out in thelow resistance icircall, a pneumatically operated contact in shunt withthe low resistance, and means for operatively connectingthe cut-out withthe striker whereby the cut-out is operated at approximately the end ofthe stroke, substantially'as setforth.

4. In an automatic operator for a musical instrument the combination ofan electromagnet, a striker operated thereby, a high resistance inseries with the electro-magnet, -a variable low resistance in parallelwith the high resistance, a cut-out in the low resistance circuit, apneumatically operated contact in shunt with the low resistance, andmeans for operatively connecting the cut out with the striker wherebythe cut-out is operated at approximately the end of tlu stroke,substantially as forth.

In an automatic operator-tor a musical instrument the combination of asource of electrical energy, an electro-magnet, a pneun1aticallyoperated contact in the circuit oi" said electroanagne an armaturenormally in position of maximum torque, a striker operated by thearmature, a lugmounted Riljustaloly on the striker, a cut-out operatedby the lug, a high resistance in series with the electro-magnet, anadjustable low resistance rheostat in parallel with the high resistanceand in circuit with the cut-out, a

moun'iaticallv oaerated contact in iarallel .l

with the low resistance.

In combination with a musical instrument, an automatic operatorcon'iprising an electro-magnet, a. contact in the circuit ther of,a'nondnductive resistance in series with the coil of saidelectron'iagnet, a cmwout in shunt with said resistance, said resistancebeing arran ed to prevent sparking at said contact a; A said cut-outrespectively, striker operated by said electromagnet, and adjustableconnections between said striker and out-outconstructed and arranged tobe operated while the. instrument is in use in playing a piece to varythe time of operation of said cutut withv respect to the operation ctsaid striker,

for varying the resist- 7, In an automatic operator for a musicalinstrument, the combination of a plurality of electric circuits, apneumatically-operated electric contact in each circuit, a perforatedsheet for controlling the pneumatic apparatus, a plurality ofelectroanagncts, each controlled by one of said contacts, a plurality ofnote-actuating mechanisms each one of which is operatively connected toone of said elcctro-magnets, one or more other pneumatically-operatedcontacts, means whereby said other contacts may be governed by theperforated sheet, one or more rheostats connected in parallel with saidother contacts, means whereby said other contacts may cooperate withsaid first mentioned contacts to accentuate any particular note ornotes.

8. In an automatic operator for a musical instrument, the combination ofa plurality of electro-magnets, a plurality of strikers, each strikerbeing operated by an electromagnet, a plurality of rheostats, oneconnected in series with each electro-magnet, and a plurality ofoperating handles each arranged to control a plurality of saidrheostats, a plurality of cut-outs, one'in series with eachelectro-magnet and operatively connected with each striker, and meansfor varying the time of operation of. said cutouts.

9. In an automatic operator for a musical. instrument, the combinationof a plurality 01. electro-magnets, a plurality of strikers each strikerbeing operatively connected with one of said electro-magnets, aplurality of rheostats, one connected in series with eachelectro-magnet, a plurality of operating handles, each arranged tocontrol a pluralityof rheostats and an electrical contact in shunt withone or more of said rheostats, and means for operating said contact toshunt said rheostats.

10. In an-automatic operator fora musical instrument, the combination ofa plurality of electro-magnets, a plurality of strikers one operated byeach of said magnets, a high resistance in series with each of saidmagnets, a low resistance in paraliel-Witheach of-said high resistances,a cut-out in circuit with each of said low resistances, adjustable meansoperatively connecting said cut outs with said strikers, and meanswhereby the l l l l 1 i times of operation of a plurality of saidcutouts may be yari ed at will.

11. In an automatic operator for a musical instrument, the combinationof a plurality of electro-magnets, a plurality of strikers each operatedby one of said magnets, a high resistance in series with each of saidmagnets, a low resistance in parallel with each i of said highresistances, cut-outs in circuit with each of said low resistances,means on said strikers cooperating with said cut-outs to control thetime iif operation thereof, said means being adjustable to vary the timeof operation ot a plurality of said cut-outs with respect to theoperation of their cooperating strikers.

,12. In an automatic operator for a musical instrument, the combinationof a plurality of electro-magnets, strikers operated thereby, a highresistance in series with each electro-magnet, a low resistance inparallel with each high resistance, a cut-out in circuit with each lowresistance, means for simultaneously varying the resistance of aplurality ofsaid low resistances, and means operatively connecting saidcut-outs with said strikers. whereby said cut-outs may be operatedduring the operation of said strikers respectively.

13. In an automatic operator fora musical instrument, the combination ofa plurality of electro-magnets, strikers operated ther by, a highresistance in series with each ele tro-magnet, a. low resistance inparallel with each of said high resistances, a cut-out in circuit witheach low resistance, a pneumatically operated contact in shunt with eachof said low resistances, and means for simultaneously operating aplurality of said contacts to simultaneously shunt a )lurality of saidlow resistances, and means or operatively connecting said cut-outs withsaid strikers whereby said cut-outs may be oper-V ated at approximatelythe end of the strokes of said strikers respectively. Y

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of I two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM mnzny ems.

Witnesses:

HAROLD WADE, HARRY g BRIDGE

